


Running

by grumpyphoenix



Series: Brain Salad [6]
Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: M/M, Not Beta Read, Pon Farr, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 08:46:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15139451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grumpyphoenix/pseuds/grumpyphoenix
Summary: Spock and Kirk run from an android in the 20th century.





	Running

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Roadside Motel, androids and robots, journeys (Time travel, space travel, odyssey and quests)  
> http://bleep0bleep.tumblr.com/prompts

 

The motel, old as it is, still has decent water pressure, even if the beds are saggy and the towels threadbare. Spock watches through the sheer polyester curtain while Jim takes a shower. When he comes out, towel slung across his hips, Spock’s eyes stay firmly rooted to the parking lot, despite the temptation to turn around. Behind him, Jim sighs. 

“Any sign?”

Spock shakes his head.  Jim comes up behind him, making him tense, every nerve relentlessly telling him how close his naked Captain is to him, how pliant Spock could find him if he only turned around...

“It’s possible that staying off the grid like this will keep him from finding us.” Jim is hopeful and the anger that flares makes Spock want to punch a wall.

“Perhaps for a short time, Captain. We cannot underestimate his deductive powers. Eventually he will realize what we have done, and adjust accordingly. If we cannot find a way home, we will die.”

Jim’s hand on Spock’s shoulder provokes a shiver. “If you are done, I will use the shower, Captain.”

Jim watches him turn and go, a faint frown on his face.

They haven’t gone completely off the grid. An unattended laptop in a Seattle coffee shop, stolen and modified by Spock, has become their new gateway to world news. While Spock is in the shower, Kirk scrolls through the bookmarks on the browser. So far nothing even in the wierdest of blogs about anything that looks like reality has warped, so that’s at least good. They’ve kept their presence in the past as non-impactful as possible. Kirk writes an email to the account that Spock insists will eventually get in touch with Montgomery Scott via a complex century spanning virus he’s written.

Even if Spock’s weird time-travelling email virus plan doesn’t work, it’s nice to be able to pretend to reach out to another friend. Lost in the past, running from a killer android makes one feel disconnected.

_ Looks like everything is still okay,  _ he writes.  _ If it goes to plan, hopefully we’ll be home soon. _

It isn’t going to plan, but Jim has always been an optimist. He’s stubbornly trying not to notice the signs that Spock is going through and early  Pon Farr. He knows Spock wouldn’t appreciate the scrutiny.

Instead of stealing a car, they buy a rusty green truck that smells aggressively like pine trees from some guy in the backwoods of nowhere. They give him cash, and he forgets to see the DMV about the sale. Spock digs a century’s worth of air fresheners out of the cab while Jim tinkers with the engine. Despite its age, it takes them halfway across the country. Jim drives the entire way while Spock shivers with a fever, slumped against the passenger side door.

He doesn’t notice when Jim parks and leaves him in a Walmart parking lot, or when they drive up to a cabin, deep in the mountains. Jim unloads bags and bags of groceries. Left alone in the cab of the truck, Spock sleeps, wishing for death, until nightfall.

That night, he snaps awake, burning under his skin. The truck door is open, and the crisp mountain air sinks into him like a balm, the stars above him bright and hopeful. His blood is a frantic drumbeat under his skin, but the change of scenery is calming enough for him to be able to understand where he is. Spock can see Jim waiting for him on the porch of the cabin. Naked. Hands open, palms up. The invitation is clear, and Spock could howl his frustrations to the sky or take what is his.


End file.
